Traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway

Traveling the Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway takes you on a nearly 450 mile scenic drive from Tennessee through Alabama and Mississippi. There are thousands of years of history marked along the way.

In our journey, we've done two stints on the Natchez; first from Franklin, Tennessee down to Shiloh and then yesterday from Shiloh to Vicksburg.  We had perfect weather both days; a beautiful, serene, green ride past a diverse terrain of rivers and rolling hills.

In the 1800's, the Trace was frequented by boatmen and farmers who floated their goods and supplies down to ports in Natchez and New Orleans. Traces of the old route have been preserved and can be seen along the way.

But the area has a history even older than that. It ran through the heart of Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and we saw several old Indian burial mounds along the way. In Mississippi, there was a stop for the Phaar Mounds, the oldest archaelogical find in the state (1966).   The mounds appeared to have been burial mounds built somewhere between 1 and 200 AD. Our stop at the Merriweather Lewis burial site was also on the Trace.

The traffic was minimal. In fact, it was non-existant. For miles at a time, we were the only ones on the road.  You can see glimpses of farms through the treelines, and every once in a while, it opens up to a wide expanse of land - a plowed farm with its green plants beginning to emerge, a magnolia tree in the midst of a field, some wandering cows. We passed the Tennessee River and stopped at the Reservoir Overlook, a 50 square mile reservoir made from an earth filled dam.

It's a great bike route, but I don't know that I'd chance long distances in a car. It's a loooooooooooooooong was between gas stations if you don't know the area. We logged almost 300 miles on the Trace during our journey. If you've got a bike, and are looking for a sweet ride, this is definitely something to look at!